They called the doctor in the restaurant to bring the food. After they finished their meal, they left. It was already dark at this time. Although the market was closed, it was still bustling.

Passing through the crowd, the two walked along the dark road to Pei's residence. According to the agreement between her and Wu Lingjia, Wu Lingjia would not show up before the two taxes arrived. So even after returning to Chang'an, no one in the Ministry of Revenue saw Wu Lingjia.

Passing through the dark corridor, Pei's residence was within reach. Two lanterns at the door swayed in the wind.

"Shh." Pei Jiaoran suddenly made a gesture to keep quiet.

Looking at the Pei residence in front of him, Pei Jiaoran looked around, motioned Wu Lingjia to step aside, and walked out slowly with his hands behind his back.

"Come out." Pei Jiaoran said.

As soon as the voice fell, a man wrapped in a hooded cloak walked out from the shadows. He covered his abdomen with his hands, leaned against the wall, and looked at her helplessly.

Looking at the person in front of him, Pei Jiaoran smiled, "Yuan Yanchong, how did you become like this?"

"Pei Jiaoran, can't you go somewhere else to talk?" Yuan Yanchong roared.

After saying this, Yuan Yanchong hissed and said slowly, "I have interrogated Lu Yi."

Hearing this, Pei Jiaoran curled his lips and pointed at Pei's house, signaling Wu Lingjia and Yuan Yan to follow.

The three of them walked through the screen wall. Zhou Mancao walked out of the house, glanced at Yuan Yanchong, and smiled as she walked forward, "The girl is back?"

"Yes." Pei Jiaoran smiled lightly, "Go prepare another bed and bedding. Lingjia will stay here tonight. Also, go get the medicine and send it to the study."

"Here."

Zhou Mancao nodded and left.

Seeing that Yuan Yanchong's eyes were still fixed on Wu Lingjia, Pei Jiaoran sneered, "She is now a free person and refuses to pay attention to you. Yuan Yanchong, I advise you not to think about him."

"I know." Yuan Yanchong lowered his eyes and said, "I just want to see if I can help her."

"It's a good thing if you help her to overthrow Zhang Rang." Pei Jiaoran said in a cold tone.

As soon as the voice fell, Yuan Yanchong said no more. He followed Pei Jiaoran into the study. He looked up at the hall and looked around. The bookshelf was full of books, and the desk was also piled with books.

He motioned for the two to sit down by the window, poured a cup of tea and handed it to Wu Lingjia, then pushed the teapot and teacup in front of Yuan Yanchong.

Looking at the teacup in front of him, Yuan Yanchong resigned himself to his fate and poured himself a cup of tea. After both of them had finished pouring their tea, Pei Jiaoran then calmly poured himself a cup of tea.

Pei Jiaoran picked up the teacup and took a sip. He nodded and said, "Tell me. What's going on?"

"Lü Yi confessed last night. I wanted to present the confession to the Censorate today, but I was ambushed right after leaving Zhaoying." Yuan Yanchong took a deep breath, "All the accompanying guards were killed. Even after entering Chang'an, I felt someone was following me. As a last resort, I thought of waiting for you here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Jiaoran tapped his fingernails on the armrest. He looked at Wu Lingjia and smiled, "Who do you think the other person is?"

"I suspect it was Zhang Rang. As long as I can't return alive, it means I can save Lu Yi, and in turn save his wealth." Yuan Yanchong's face was already pale due to the pain from his injury, and now because of the injury, he frowned, "I don't know how Wen Shu is doing right now. I'm worried that he's in danger."

"What did Lu Yi say?" Pei Jiaoran asked calmly.

"He said that although he is the Wu King's brother, he doesn't know whether he is working for the Wu King or Zhang Rang these years." After taking a sip of tea, Yuan Yanchong continued, "He will meet any request from Chang'an in exchange for his own interests."

Don’t know who you are working for?

Pei Jiaoran frowned. It seemed that the relationship between the Lu family and Zhang Rang was closer than she had imagined. But she had previously looked through the resume of Zhang Rang in the Eunuchs' Office, and found very little about his family background. As for the general of the Shen Ce that Lady Wu married, there were even fewer records.

"I checked the genealogy of the Lu family in Zhaoying." Yuan Yanchong curled up and saw her thinking. Yuan Yanchong said what she was thinking, "It didn't say how they knew Zhang Rang. And Zhou Xian's confession also proved that he only followed Lu Yi's arrangements. Lu Yi would share the money he got with him. In addition, Zhou Xian has a son who is now in the Shen Ce Army."

Looking at Yuan Yanchong thoughtfully, Pei Jiaoran suddenly remembered Lü Yi's fearless face. Her eyes were solemn.

Judging from the current situation, there must be some discord between Jia Gonglu and Zhang Rang. If I can use this incident to make the discord between them even deeper, it might be a good thing for me. But there are risks in doing so.

"Do you have evidence to prove that it was Zhang Rang who did it?" Pei Jiaoran raised his lips slightly, his eyes sharp, "Go to the Shangshu Province tomorrow and report this matter directly to Jia Gonglu."

"Why? Why should this matter be reported to him? He and Zhang Rang are in cahoots." Yuan Yanchong asked back.

There was silence in the house for a moment.

It seemed like a long time had passed before Pei Jiaoran said, "Zhang Rang is determined to kill you, so he will not give up. And now Zhang Rang is involved in the case of the eunuchs' invasion of land. If Jia Gonglu knew that Lv Yi was doing something for the king, what do you think he would do to protect the king of Wu?" She sneered, her tone cold and sinister, "It would be a good thing for the entire Southern Court to overthrow Zhang Rang. He is also from the Southern Court, so how could he want Zhang Rang to suppress him all the time?"

These few words echoed like thunder in his ears. Pei Jiaoran looked at her meaningfully.

There are no impregnable riverbanks in this world, and naturally there are no impregnable allies. After all, there will always be times when benefits are unevenly distributed. Once conflicts arise in the distribution of benefits, conflicts are inevitable. The way to resolve conflicts is mostly to successfully annex the other party. This has been recorded in history books for thousands of years.

With a creaky sound, Zhou Mancao pushed the door open and walked in, holding a red lacquered wooden tray in her hand.

Zhou Mancao glanced at Yuan Yanchong who looked uncomfortable, and walked to Pei Jiaoran's side. She smiled and said, "Girl, I brought the medicine."

Motioning Zhou Mancao to put down the medicine, Pei Jiaoran said, "Think about it first. It's not safe for us to face Zhang Rang directly. It's better to let them turn against each other first."

"Is there no risk if we let Jia Gonglu know about this?" Yuan Yanchong raised his head and secretly glanced at Zhou Mancao, and continued: "Since there are risks, why not tell Cui Gong and Cen Gong directly."

"You can think about it again. There is no extra room for you in my house, so you can just stay here for one night. Take the medicine yourself." Pei Jiaoran raised his eyebrows slightly, "It's best to look a little haggard when you enter the palace tomorrow morning."

After saying that, Pei Jiaoran turned around and left with Zhou Mancao and Wu Lingjia.

Soon, Zhou Mancao turned back again.

Seeing Zhou Mancao looking at him with a look of disappointment, Yuan Yanchong lowered his head, "Madam Zhou."

"Take off your clothes." Zhou Mancao said lightly.

"What?" Yuan Yanchong widened his eyes, as if he suspected he had heard it wrong.

"I'm just applying medicine for you out of pity. You don't have to think about it, Censor Yuan." After saying that, Zhou Mancao pulled Yuan Yanchong to sit down. She unbuttoned his clothes. She saw that the white cotton gauze wrapped around his ribs was already oozing blood. She slowly unbuttoned the white cotton gauze.

The wound was exposed to view, and Zhou Mancao skillfully picked up the medicine bottle and poured the powder onto his wound.

"Girl, the wound medicine here is specially provided by the Shen Ce Army. You are lucky. Apply the medicine today and you will feel much better tomorrow." After applying the medicine, Zhou Mancao wrapped the new white cotton gauze back and said, "Okay. I'll go see if there are any more beddings. You should have a good rest. I'll leave this bottle of medicine for you. You can use it for three consecutive days."

"You..." Yuan Yanchong hesitated to speak.

Before Yuan Yanchong could finish, Zhou Mancao had already left. Not long after, she came back with the quilt and placed it on the table.

"Thank you." Yuan Yan rushed.

"You're welcome." After saying that, Zhou Mancao turned and left.

Yuan Yanchong, who was in the room, lowered his head and looked at the wound that had been re-bandaged. He couldn't help but close his eyes and sigh.

Whatever, it's just me who has let them down. Why should I think about other things?

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